The End or the Beginning?
by kuroaiko2014
Summary: Barely a week after the Final Battle for Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort took charge of Wizarding Britain. A few wizards and witches had made it out before Voldemort had closed the borders, but most of the Light Side had been decimated. *QLFC S4 R8* Unfortunately, I still don't own HP.
1. Chapter 1

**Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 4: Round 4**

 **Team: Kenmare Kestrels**

 **Position: Beater 1**

 **Prompt: What would life be like a week after Voldemort rises to power?**

 **Optional Prompts:**

 **5 (dialogue) "Who cares? We could be dead in a couple of hours."**  
 **12 (word) cruel**  
 **13 (object) Time Turner**

Barely a week after the Final Battle for Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort took charge of Wizarding Britain. A few wizards and witches had made it out before Voldemort had closed the borders, but most of the Light Side had been decimated.

~LL~

Luna looked at the beaded bag thrust in her face. "What do I need that for?"

"Luna," Hermione panted, rubbing her face with her shoulder in an attempt to remove some of the sweat, "Just take the bag. You aren't on their radar right now."

"Yes, I am. Neville... He protected me and that put a target on my back, same as yours!" Luna argued.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Luna. Neville, Harry, R-Ron. They're all dead now. You can survive this, you just need to take my bag and run."

Luna took the bag and pulled the strap through her belt loops. She tied off the end to keep it from being left behind or falling loose. "I don't accept that this is the end, Hermione."

"It is. In less than a week, Vo-He killed nearly everyone who opposed Him. It's just us and only a handful of others that slipped through His grasp. He's getting stronger. Practically nothing can stop Him now- except what's in that bag. I'm sorry, Luna. I know it's cruel of me to ask, but I need you to end it for me. The curse that hit me during the fight yesterday is shutting my body down. Soon I'll suffocate, and the worst part is, I'll be aware of it the whole time. Please, Luna."

Luna looked on her friend in horror. "Hermione! I can't-"

"Who cares? We could be dead in a couple of hours. I know I will be. At the rate we're going, you'd be better off without me slowing you down! You don't even have to use Avada Kedavra. Just use Diffendo and cut off my head."

"Oh, Merlin. Hermione, no!"

"Do it, Luna! The bag will help you get out of here. A wand won't allow its master to kill themselves. You have to...please, Luna."

Luna lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Hermione. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I will try my best to survive."

Hermione closed her eyes and Luna stepped back. "Diffendo."

Hermione's body and head hit the ground separately. Luna fell to her knees and curled her arms around her torso.

~LL~

Two days after Luna beheaded Hermione, and nine days after the fall of the Light Side, Luna finally found a cave and was able to throw enough wards and spells around to make it invisible to the Dark. Once she had slept for a few hours, she took the beaded bag and summoned everything out of it.

Three tall stacks of books settled to the left, a mixture of clothes piled to the right, and assorted knickknacks landed in the middle. Luna dismissed the books and clothes, vanishing them back into the bag. She again looped the beaded bag around her belt. She started to sort through the random mess that was left. "Broken. Garbage. Rubbish. Useful. Useful. Merlin!" Luna yelped when her fingers tangled in the golden chain of Hermione's Time Turner. She pulled it out of the pile and sat back on her heels as she examined it.

Luna absentmindedly slipped the chain over her head as she fiddled with the rings around the hourglass.

~LL~

Luna's head snapped up and her fingers fumbled with the Time Turner as she heard a voice yell out near her hiding place.

"I can sense magic here! There must be a Mudblood or Blood Traitor nearby! FIND THEM!"

Luna gasped as she felt herself get pulled. The world went dark, and Luna knew no more.

~LL~

Luna jolted awake and looked around frantically. "What happened to me..."

"Are you awake now, Miss?" a young voice asked, startling the already confused girl.

"Wha- How- Who are you?" Luna stammered as she flinched back from the speaker.

"Whoa! Easy, there. I'm not going to hurt you. You're like me. Special. Special people don't deserve to be hurt." The speaker stepped forward into the light and Luna saw her rescuer for the first time.

He was tall, with black hair and equally dark eyes, and didn't appear to be much older than Luna. His robes weren't custom, but they were tailored and well maintained. He held her wand in his right hand with the grip out so she could take it back. She could see his own wand tucked into his left sleeve.

"My w-wand." Luna reached forward and snatched the familiar aspen and unicorn hair wand from the stranger's hand.

The young man took a few steps back after relinquishing the wand and stood with his hands visible. "What's your name, Miss? Where did you come from?"

Luna shook her head. "I don't even know the date, where I am, or your name. Common courtesy dictates that you at least inform me of your name before asking mine."

"Ah," he bowed slightly, "Thomas. Thomas Riddle. Now may I have your name?"

Luna's eyes widened and she swallowed, "What day is it?"

"Sunday?"

"The date," Luna stated bluntly as she gawked at Thomas.

"May 9th, 1943."

Luna promptly fainted.

~TR~

"What in Merlin's name-" Thomas rushed forward and gathered the girl into his arms. "Hopefully Professor Slughorn will have kept my potions. She'll have need of them once she reawakens."

Thomas left the cave he had found the girl in and used the Portkey he'd made in Transfiguation for extra credit, to transport them to the gates of Hogwarts.

Thomas shifted the girl around to lay his hand on the gate and use his heritage of Salazar to open the gates without a Professor. He had found out just whom was in his bloodline earlier that year. He'd been horrified to learn that his mother had dosed his father to force him to love her. He had changed his name legally through the Ministry to his father's full first name, Thomas, but some of the Professors refused to acknowledge it.

Thomas looked at the girl's troubled face. "Why were you hidden in that cave, Dove?"

Thomas took a lesser-used route to get to the Potions Professor's Office, and managed to encounter not a single person or ghost. "Professor Slughorn?" Thomas called, kicking the door lightly so as not to jostle the girl.

He glanced down and studied the aristocratic features, most probably indicating her pureblood status, of the girl in his arms again. He quickly looked up when the door opened and Professor Dumbledore came out. Thomas swiftly stepped back to avoid being bumped into by the Transfiguration Professor.

"Tom, my boy," The Professor said jovially, casting a critical eye over him and his charge. "And whom might this be?"

Thomas turned to hide the girl's face from view. "Please don't call me that, Professor. She is no one of consequence. I was just bringing her to Professor Slughorn for a diagnostic spell and some potions."

Professor Dumbledore's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to respond. He was cut off before he could say a word by Professor Slughorn walking out to see why his door was still open. "Ah, Mr. Riddle. Good day, Albus. I will see you at dinner." Professor Slughorn waved away Professor Dumbledore and showed Thomas into his office.

Thomas sat in the armchair in the corner, arranging the girl in his lap so she could be comfortable.

Professor Slughorn closed the door and returned to his desk. "Now then. Who is your friend there, Mr. Riddle? Is she alright?"

Thomas cradled the girl carefully and looked at his Head of House. "I honestly don't know. I was out looking for ingredients and found her. She was confused and scared. She didn't tell me her name before she fainted. I brought her here to see if you would run the diagnostic spells on her and see what potions would be best to return her to full health. She is in a frightful condition. I fear she may have been attacked by Muggles."

"Why didn't you take her up to the Infirmary?"

"And have Professor Dumbledore come up to tell her I'm an awful person and to stay away from me? The Matron is friends with him, and you know that is what would happen. I just-" Thomas took a breath and sighed softly, "I just want her to get better. I want to make sure nothing happens to her- nothing more, in any case."


	2. Chapter 2

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Position: Beater 1

Prompt: The Bloody Baron

Optional Prompts:

9(quote) "Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves." -Emily Bronte

11 (dialogue) "I'm still here."

Chapter 2

Professor Slughorn ran a careful diagnostic spell over the sleeping girl and shook his head at Thomas in amazement. "It's a wonder she's even alive. Her injuries are quite extensive. I can spell a few potions directly into her system, but it'll be a waiting game afterward. Are you prepared to help her, Thomas?" Professor Slughorn asked as he went about gathering the mentioned potions and preparing himself for the transfer. "You should take her up to the Hospital Wing and let Madame Roselyn look after her once I've done this."

Thomas frowned and laid her out on the couch to allow the Professor to do his work. "Do you think it would be wise, considering Professor Dumbledore's obvious dislike for me? I don't want him to hur- Nevermind."

Professor Slughorn turned to his favorite student with a befuddled expression. "Are you afraid Albus will hurt the poor girl further? Where did you find her?" He started to spell the potions into her stomach.

Thomas sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I found her in one of the caves. I was looking for the lost hippogriff foal. I heard a loud noise, almost like the crack of Apparition. When I got there, I found her." Thomas cast a concerned eye over her, "She was unconscious. I tried to make her comfortable, but when she awoke...she was terrified, Professor. I think she was afraid of me, in particular. Like she thought I had hurt her." He wrapped his arms around his torso, "I don't like to hurt people. I don't like seeing others hurt. After all that I went through at the hands of others, I just want to be safe...to be happy. I don't understand why he's so against letting me have that. I'm not a bad person. At least, I don't think I am," Thomas trailed off and looked back at his Professor. "I'll take her up now."

Professor Slughorn frowned, but nodded, "Go ahead. Let me know if Madame Roselyn needs anything in particular from my potions stores."

Thomas laid the still sleeping girl on the last bed in the Infirmary, right next to the Matron's office. "Madame Roselyn, I have a patient for you. Professor Slughorn has already started the healing process for her, but we'd like to keep her here under observation to make sure she gets fully healed," he said as the mediwitch came out of her office.

"What happened to her?" Madame Roselyn stopped in her tracks. "She's not one of ours?"

Thomas shook his head. "I found her while looking for the lost hippogriff foal. She was terrified and injured. I brought her here. She's a magical. She's got her wand."

Madame Roselyn nodded, "I'll look after her, Mr. Riddle. Go ahead and go to the Great Hall for lunch. No one will mess with her under my watch-"

Thomas finally left the Hospital Wing at the Matron's promise. He didn't stray far, however. He stayed in an alcove and watched the students and professors come and go as the day passed. He had sat down about an hour after he had started his watch and was currently eating an apple and revising an essay for Charms. He looked up sharply when the door opened but no one came through.

He frowned and cast Hominum Revelio. When he saw that the girl he'd rescued was trying to get away from the Infirmary, he stood. "Miss, it really isn't wise to run around the school without know-" He cut off when he felt the tip of a wand press under his ear.

"How did you know?" The demand was punctuated by the wand digging a bit deeper into his flesh.

"H-Hominum Revelio. It really isn't a good idea to run around without a guide. The Castle is sentient and She'll not be happy with an intruder in her halls," Thomas insisted, though he made no move to dislodge the wand or disarm the girl.

"You asked my name before. I won't give it. Not my real name at least."

Thomas swallowed thickly and grimaced. "I won't ask you anymore. What do you want to be called?"

She shimmered into existence and her eyes flashed, "Griselda Ophelia."

Luna had awoken during the trek from the Professor's rooms to the Infirmary but maintained her silence. She used her battle-honed senses to see if she was in any imminent danger. She didn't detect any subterfuge in Thomas's motives to get her help, so she maintained her facade of being unconscious.

Several hours after Thomas left her, she slowly eased her way up to sitting and took stock of her injuries.

She startled when she saw a ghost hovering in front of her.

"You're not from this time," the ghost said, casting a look at the Matron's office.

"How do you know?" Luna responded.

The Bloody Baron snorted and shook his head, rattling his chains, "The ghosts always know, girl."

"What should I do then? I didn't mean to come here. I meant to try to go back only a week and a half. I wanted to save my friends."

"Proud people breed sorrows for themselves," the Slytherin ghost muttered, turning slightly. He started mumbling under his breath and tapping the fingers of one hand in the palm of his other.

"I'm still here," Luna snapped.

The ghost turned back, "I can see that. You should use this to your advantage, little Eagle."

"Little Eagle?"

"You're obviously a Ravenclaw...though I'm not sure you'd still be one if you were to resort."

Luna swallowed and twisted her hands in her sheets. "I think I can use this, but will this result in a split timeline?"

The ghost shrugged. "I don't know. I studied potions, not Arithmancy. You would have better luck with Helena for that."

Luna looked up. "I'll keep that in mind. For now, though…" She shifted around and stood shakily. She walked around the bed and cast the disillusionment charm on herself. "I'm leaving."

The ghost shrugged and floated through the floor.

Luna slowly eased her way across the Infirmary and opened the door. She made her way into the hall, only to stop in rage when she heard, "Miss, it really isn't wise to run around the school without know-"

She cut him off by pressing the tip of her wand under his ear.

"How did you know?" Her demand was sharp and she dug her wand a bit deeper into his flesh.

"H-Hominum Revelio. It really isn't a good idea to run around without a guide. The Castle is sentient and She'll not be happy with an intruder in her halls," Thomas insisted, though he made no move to dislodge the wand or disarm the girl.

"You asked my name before. I won't give it. Not my real name at least."

Thomas swallowed thickly and grimaced. "I won't ask you anymore. What do you want to be called?"

Luna shimmered into existence and her eyes flashed, "Griselda Ophelia."

A/N So, last week I got a bit of horrible news. My uncle passed away due to a combined stroke and heart attack. I am stuck on the US East Coast and missed the wake. He's being cremated, so I won't even have a grave to visit to pay my last respects. This is just a heads-up for my loyal readers that my next few stories/updates will most likely be dark and depressing. Once I can come to terms with this loss, my writing should return to my norm. Thank you for reading.


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